Shipping Scenes
by poplarleaves
Summary: Now that the Pokemon characters are older, their minds are turning to issues other than those of Pokemon battling. Includes Contestshipping, Pokeshipping, Ikarishipping, Egoshipping, Palletshipping and perhaps some more.
1. Contest

For seven years, they had known each other. They had seen each other a thousand times at various competitions and Contests, but never once had he thought he would be saying this to her.

"May," he began. "We've known each other for seven years."

She frowned slightly, a frown above her blue eyes. "What do you mean?"

He had asked her aside at her birthday party. Her father, being a gym leader, had invited practically every celebrity in all of Hoenn, and the house and garden swarmed with guests. It had taken some work to find a private corner where no one - not even that irritating Max - would hear them.

"I've given you so many roses so many times. You know how I said they're for Beautifly?"

Every inch of him wanted to simply blurt it out, frankly and honestly, but he was afraid. Of all people, _he_ was _afraid._

"They weren't. They were for you."

She laughed. He hadn't expected her to laugh.

"Well, I kind of guessed that once you gave me the tenth one or so," she admitted. "But I wasn't sure if it meant anything. I mean, I'm still not sure."

"Do you want to be sure?" he heard himself say, leaning closer, feeling his eyes bore into hers.

She was afraid. And he was, too, if he wanted to admit it.

"Drew," she said, "yes."

And of course he kissed her. He couldn't _not_ kiss her; after all, he had just about admitted everything to her in the most un-Drew-like way, backing her into a corner and asking her for a sign, any sign that she wanted him too. So now he kissed her and tried oh so hard to make it last, make it all better for her - for the two of them.

He could hear her gasp a little and begin to push away from him but he had backed her to the wall now, and his mouth was moving over her skin and he pinned her wrists to the wall beside her head, pressed his lips to hers.

"Drew," she said again.

"May," he responded, pausing for a moment to breathe.

When she kissed him back, he didn't have time to think that he was happy.


	2. Poke

Misty shifted uneasily as she eyed Ash. For some insane, unfathomable reason he had called her outside, out of the crowd and the clouds of perfume and the lights.

They were alone. It was evening, and it was cold and dark. Somewhere far off glass clinked.

"Okay, Ash. We're alone now. What did you want to say?"

She didn't want to think about the situation at the moment, because the connotations of it were too suggestive. Of course, nothing like _that _would happen between the two of them. Ever. Ash was just some immature, thickheaded kid who had known her since they were both ten. Yes, they had traveled and slept out in the open together and had journeys, but he was always going to be the same. Somehow it was a comforting thought, that things would always be the same. They were best friends, and not even once had Misty thought of having any kind of romance with him. He might have a kind of puppy-dog obedience for her, but he definitely wasn't infatuated with her, nor would he ever be. It just wasn't conceivable. It was... ridiculous. Absurd. Preposterous. Insane.

"Misty." Ash shifted. Uneasily.

She wondered why he was uneasy.

"You know how we've known each other for a long, long time and we've traveled all around Kanto and Johto?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Well..." he hesitated. "Would you mind doing a favor for me? As in, a really, _really_ big favor for me?"

"What favor?"

"Um. I'd... I want to ask you to..." absently, he scratched the back of his neck, "...well, I don't want you to take this the wrong way."

"Ash, just get on with it," she said with slight annoyance.

"Okay."

She watched as he took a deep breath.

In a rush, it all spilled out. "Misty, I-kind-of-sort-of-like-you."

She felt a silly grin creep up her face. So it was just as she had feared. Oh Arceus. She had known this would eventually come.

"Ash," she began, unable to stop smiling, because that was what you did in these situations.

He cut her off. "I wanted to ask you for a favor because I just want you to listen to what I'm saying. That's the favor. Just listen. Or maybe you can just hear it and later you'll forget it all again, but it doesn't matter as long as you hear it."

She nodded. Of course she wouldn't ever forget it, even if he thought she would.

"I really like you. And I don't know why. I mean, you sometimes act like you're my older sister or something and we have arguments and... stuff." Pause, shift. "And we'll get really mad at each other, but later on it's like it never happened." He laughed nervously. "I don't even remember what we were fighting about earlier--"

"You spilled your drink on me," she said flatly.

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

"No, you're _not_ sorry. You don't _look_ sorry to me."

"I am, all right? It's not like I try to be clumsy!"

"Well, sometimes you act like you do!"

"Ash Ketchum, you are going to apologize to me _right now_ for embarrassing me in front of about a hundred gym leaders and various other distinguished people!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"_Apologize!_"

"_Why should I?_" he nearly roared.

"Because... because...!"

They stopped, panting, minds working frantically to make sense of the situation.

"I'm getting nothing," Misty muttered.

"Same here."

"Truce?" Ash stuck out his hand hopefully.

For a moment she watched him suspiciously. Then she shook his hand.

"Truce."

A smile began on her face, slowing spreading to his and eventually turning into a grin, then a laugh.

"You know, Ash," Misty said, "I don't know why we fight so much."

"Don't bring it up," he said quickly, mock-backing away. "Don't start it again."

"I won't," she promised, quirking a smile.

And then there was silence, but it was a good silence - a thinking silence. A silence for resting and just blanking out. In the good way.

Misty looked over at Ash. He was the same as ever - same messy hair, same silly grin, same hotheadedness and dreams and cheerful nature. There was a good kind of assurance in that knowledge that he would be the same. Everything would always be the same between them.

It was a comforting thought.


	3. Aegis

From the beginning, there had never been any chance - any way - for them to be.

She was slowly fading away from him. Darkrai gently laid a hand on her wrist, watching as she leaned toward him, eyes closed, peaceful. There was no doubt in his mind. If there was no way for them to exist together, then he would let her go.

He knew. He knew that she didn't love him, never had loved him the way he loved her. She, the symbol of purity - of life, of light - did not know.

And that would never change. It would never, ever change, no matter how much he wished for it.

_Alice,_ he thought. _A child who fell into a fairytale. A girl, magicked away from the real world. A woman who cared for me, who saved me from my own darkness. The one who somehow managed to steal my heart._

_Alice._


End file.
